Dual Receive Processing In Wireless Communications

ABSTRACT

A technique, as well as select implementations thereof, pertaining to dual receive processing in wireless communications is described. The technique may involve receiving, by a plurality of receive processing modules, an incoming signal from an antenna to provide a plurality of processing results. The technique may also involve generating, by a determination mechanism, a determination output based on the plurality of processing results. The determination output may include either one or more decoding metrics based on a respective processing result from one of the plurality of receive processing modules or a weighted combination of more than one respective processing result from more than one receive processing module of the plurality of receive processing modules. The technique may further involve decoding, by a decoder, the determination output to provide a decoded signal.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

The present disclosure is part of a divisional of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/942,962, filed on 16 Nov. 2015 and claiming thepriority benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/084,626,filed on 26 Nov. 2014. Contents of aforementioned applications areincorporated by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to wireless communicationsand, more particularly, to dual receive processing in wirelesscommunications.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, approaches described in this sectionare not prior art to the claims listed below and are not admitted asprior art by inclusion in this section.

To meet the exploding demand for higher capacity, increasingly advancedreceivers are considered and developed to combat various scenarios. Forexample, in Long Term Evolution (LTE) Rel-12, the so-called NetworkAssisted Interference Cancellation and Suppression (NAICS) receiver isstandardized in 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) toeffectively cancel inter-cell interference. As the name implies, someinformation is provided by Evolved Node B (eNB) to aid interferencecancellation. From the perspective of eNB, inter-eNB informationexchanges are required to provide the information to user equipment(UE). However, depending on the backhaul type, there could be delays ofinter-eNB information exchange that can be intolerably long for NAICSreceivers to work properly. In this case, the information conveyed to aUE would be outdated, and would not match to the current schedulingdecision. In this case, the overall performance would be much degradedmaking it even worse than a conventional Rel-11 receiver.

In general, when an advanced receiver involves much estimation anddetection, the estimation/detection results can also become inaccurate,thereby degrading the overall performance to be worse than theconventional receiver. To cope with this problem, a dual receiverstructure can be used. In this type of receiver, multiple receivers runin parallel. In LTE, for example, a default receiver, such as a MinimumMean Square Error and Interference Rejection Combiner (MMSE-IRC)receiver, and a NAICS receiver could run in parallel. However, in thelast stage (i.e., before feeding the decoding metric to the decoder),some selection or combining methods are necessary. Without this, theturbo decoder would need to run twice, which is not desirable.

SUMMARY

The following summary is illustrative only and is not intended to belimiting in any way. That is, the following summary is provided tointroduce concepts, highlights, benefits and advantages of the novel andnon-obvious techniques described herein. Select, not all,implementations are further described below in the detailed description.Thus, the following summary is not intended to identify essentialfeatures of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended for use indetermining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Various implementations of a multi-receiver structure are presentedherein. The multi-receiver structure having multiple component receiversin accordance with the present disclosure may effectively outperformpre-defined minimum performance by optimally combining or selecting theoutput of each component receiver, with one of the component receiverproviding baseline minimum performance. An example of dual processingdiscussed in the present disclosure may include two component receiverssuch as, for instance, a simple MMSE-based receiver and an advancedreceiver. Usually an advanced receiver is more susceptible to estimationand/or detection errors, which can degrade its performance to a levelworse than that of the default simple MMSE-based receiver. In thissituation, the dual processing in accordance with the present disclosurecan easily guarantee or outperform the minimum performance.

For illustration of the novel concept of the present disclosure, fourexample combining methods for dual receive processing are disclosedherein. The first and second example combining methods use estimatedprobability or similar metric of the received sequences. The second andthird example combining methods eliminate the need of calculating thedecoding metric twice for a simpler architecture and construction of areceiver. The fourth example combining method directly uses the decodingresults, and can intelligently find the better receiver of the two byutilizing a “decoding success” and a “decoding failure” event. Thisenables the proposed dual receive processing to select the betterreceiver in any kind of interference scenario. The example combiningmethods are expected to provide good ways to effectively select andcombine the output of each receiver.

It is noteworthy that, although examples and implementations in thepresent disclosure may be provided in the context of wirelesscommunications based on LTE, the proposed techniques, methods, devices,apparatuses, systems, structures and architectures may also be appliedto any other scenarios where multiple receive processing is suitable ornecessary. It is also noteworthy that, although examples andimplementations in the present disclosure may be provided in the contextof a two-receiver structure/architecture, the proposed techniques,methods, devices, apparatuses, systems, structures and architectures mayalso be easily extended to structures and architectures with more thantwo component receivers. For instance, the proposed receiver structuremay be easily extended so that it includes N different componentreceivers where N is a positive integer greater than 1. Advantageously,implementations in accordance with the present disclosure mayeffectively achieve dual receive processing without running the decodertwice.

In one example implementation, an apparatus may include an antenna, aplurality of receive processing modules, a determination mechanism, anda decoder. The antenna may be configured to receive an incoming signal.The plurality of receive processing modules may include at least a firstreceive processing module and a second receive processing module. Eachof the plurality of receive processing modules may be coupled to theantenna and configured to receive the incoming signal from the antennaand process the incoming signal to produce a respective processingresult. The determination mechanism may be configured to receive theprocessing results from the plurality of receive processing modules andgenerate a determination output. The determination output may includeeither one or more decoding metrics based on a respective processingresult from one of the plurality of receive processing modules or aweighted combination of more than one respective processing result frommore than one receive processing module of the plurality of receiveprocessing modules. The decoder may be configured to receive thedetermination output from the determination mechanism and decode thedetermination output to provide a decoded signal.

In another example implementation, a method may involve a plurality ofreceive processing modules receiving an incoming signal from an antennato provide a plurality of processing results. The plurality of receiveprocessing modules may include at least a first receive processingmodule and a second receive processing module. The method may alsoinvolve a determination mechanism generating a determination outputbased on the plurality of processing results. The determination outputmay include either of: (1) one or more decoding metrics based on arespective processing result from one of the plurality of receiveprocessing modules, or (2) a weighted combination of more than onerespective processing result from more than one receive processingmodule of the plurality of receive processing modules. The method mayfurther involve a decoder decoding the determination output to provide adecoded signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitutea part of the present disclosure. The drawings illustrateimplementations of the disclosure and, together with the description,serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. It is appreciablethat the drawings are not necessarily in scale as some components may beshown to be out of proportion than the size in actual implementation inorder to clearly illustrate the concept of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example receiver architecture inaccordance with a first combining technique of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example receiver architecture inaccordance with a second combining technique of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example receiver architecture inaccordance with a third combining technique of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example receiver architecture inaccordance with a fourth combining technique of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of example expected behaviors of weighting factorwith various step sizes in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of an example apparatus inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an example process in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Overview

Assume that a t-th received symbol may be expressed as Equation (1)below.

y _(t) =S _(t) +I _(t) +N _(t)  (1)

For simplicity, the index t is dropped in the description below. InEquation (1), S denotes the desired message symbol, I denotes theinterference symbol, and N denotes the noise component. For example, in3GPP, a MMSE-IRC receiver is designed to detect S considering I+N aseffective noise. However, in a NAICS receiver, S and I are considered assignals, and they are jointly decoded. If a dual processing structure isapplied in this case, MMSE-IRC and NAICS receivers would run inparallel. Both receivers generate decoding metrics such as, for example,log-likelihood ratios for each symbol. To avoid running a turbo decodertwice, it is necessary to select one of the two metrics, or combine themin a preferable way. The following description pertains to varioustechniques on how to combine the two metrics in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

A first combining technique according to the present disclosure mayinclude procedures that are applied to blocks of symbols separately. Ablock of symbols may be, for example, a frequency domain-physicalresource block (PRB) in LTE, or it may be all allocated PRBs in theextreme case. For the interested block of transmission, a first receiver(e.g., a MMSE-IRC receiver in 3GPP) may calculate a weighting factorthat represents the statistical property of the received signal. Forexample, a probability that the received symbols are received may be onepossible metric. The probability may be expressed as Equation (2) below.

$\begin{matrix}{P_{1} = {\prod\limits_{t}\; \left\{ {{\max \; {p\left( {{y_{t}S} = s_{j}} \right)}},{j = 0},\ldots \mspace{14mu},{{S} - 1}} \right\}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

In Equation (2), s_(j) denotes one of the constellations that S uses,and /S/ denotes the cardinality of the constellation. For each receivedsymbol, the best probability may be calculated and accumulated.

Similarly, a second receiver (e.g., a NAICS receiver in 3GPP) maycalculate similar probability according to Equation (3) below.

$\begin{matrix}{P_{2} = {\prod\limits_{t}\; \left\{ {{\max \; {p\left( {{{y_{t}S} = s_{j}},{I = i_{k}}} \right)}},{j = 0},\ldots \mspace{14mu},{{S} - 1},{k = 0},\ldots \mspace{14mu},{{I} - 1}} \right\}}} & (3)\end{matrix}$

In Equation (3), i_(k) denotes one of the constellations that I uses,and /I/ denotes the cardinality of the constellation.

The two probabilities represent how closely each receiver can representthe received symbols. Therefore, it is useful to use these twoprobabilities as a weighting factors in combining the two decodingmetrics.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example receiver architecture 100 in accordancewith the first combining technique. Receiver architecture 100 mayinclude a number of functional blocks such as, for example, firstreceive processing 112, first decode metric generation 114, first weightcalculation 116, second receive processing 122, second decode metricgeneration 124, second weight calculation 126, combining 130 anddecoding 140. The functional blocks of first receive processing 112,first decode metric generation 114 and first weight calculation 116 maybe functional blocks of a first receiver, e.g., a MMSE-IRC receiver, andconfigured to receive an incoming signal from antenna 105 and generatedecoding metrics, e.g., L₀, L₁, etc. shown in FIG. 1, and a probabilityP₁ as a weighting factor. That is, the functional block of first receiveprocessing 112 may perform receive processing as a MMSE-IRC receiveprocessing module. The functional blocks of second receive processing122, second decode metric generation 124 and second weight calculation126 may be functional blocks of a second receiver, e.g., a NAICSreceiver, and configured to receive the incoming signal from antenna 105and generate decoding metrics, e.g., R₀, R₁, etc. shown in FIG. 1, and aprobability P₂ as a weighting factor. That is, the functional block ofsecond receive processing 122 may perform receive processing as a NAICSreceive processing module. The functional block of combining 130 mayreceive the decoding metrics and weighting factors from first and secondreceivers and combine the decoding metrics with the weighting factors toprovide an output as follows: (P₁(P₁+P₂))*L_(i)+(P₂/(P₁+P₂))*R_(i). Thefunctional block of decoding 140 may decode the output of the functionalblock of combining 130.

It is noteworthy that although the example illustrated in FIG. 1 showsthe functional blocks of two component receivers, the first combiningtechnique is applicable to implementations in which there are more thantwo component receivers. Therefore, the scope of implementations basedon the first combining technique in accordance with the presentdisclosure is not limited to two component receivers.

As stated earlier, the weighting factors may be determined separatelyfor each block of symbols to provide more flexibility.

When noise term N is distributed with a specific density (e.g., Gaussiandistribution is a general assumption), the expression of P₁ and P₂ canbe simplified with mathematical manipulations. For example, for Gaussiannoise, if a logarithm is taken for the expressions of P_(i), a distancebetween the received symbol Y and the constructed symbol may be obtainedusing the best constellation. This distance may be used as the weightingfactor instead of the probabilities. When the distance is utilized, therole of P₁ and P₂ needs to be swapped as the smaller distance is betterin this case.

Alternatively, noise estimate may be used for the weighting factor. Whenthe noise estimate is small in one receiver, it would be better to putmore weight on the outputs from that receiver. Similarly, when the noiseestimate is utilized, the role of P₁ and P₂ needs to be swapped as thesmaller noise is better in this case.

Alternatively, any variations of the probability expression or similarmetrics that represent the “closeness” between Y and the constructedsymbol may also be used. For example, mutual information (MI) betweenthe received symbols and the transmitted bits, b, may be expressed asEquation (4) below.

$\begin{matrix}{{I\left( {b;Y} \right)} = {\sum\limits_{b}\; {\sum\limits_{Y}\; {{p\left( {b,Y} \right)}\log \frac{p\left( {b,Y} \right)}{{p(b)}{p(Y)}}}}}} & (4)\end{matrix}$

The MI may also be used as a weighting factor. In other words, MIcalculated from each component receiver may be used in place of theweighting factor. In general, depending on the complexity ofimplementation or performance, different metric may be chosen to meetcertain requirements in accordance with the present disclosure.

A second combining technique according to the present disclosure may bea variation of the first combining technique. Under the second combiningtechnique, the weighting factors may be used to select the betterreceiver before generating the decoding metric. Then, the decodingmetric is calculated for the selected receiver. In this way thecomplexity of calculating two decoding metrics may be eliminated.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example receiver architecture 200 in accordancewith the second combining technique. Receiver architecture 200 mayinclude a number of functional blocks such as, for example, firstreceive processing 212, first weight calculation 214, first decodingmetric generation 216, second receive processing 222, second weightcalculation 224, second decoding metric generation 226, decision 230 anddecoding 240. The functional blocks of first receive processing 212,first weight calculation 214 and first decoding metric generation 216may be functional blocks of a first receiver, e.g., a MMSE-IRC receiver,and configured to receive an incoming signal from antenna 205 andgenerate a probability P₁ as a weighting factor. That is, the functionalblock of first receive processing 212 may perform receive processing asa MMSE-IRC receive processing module. The functional blocks of secondreceive processing 222, second weight calculation 224 and seconddecoding metric generation 226 may be functional blocks of a secondreceiver, e.g., a NAICS receiver, and configured to receive the incomingsignal from antenna 205 and generate a probability P₂ as a weightingfactor. That is, the functional block of second receive processing 222may perform receive processing as a NAICS receive processing module. Thefunctional block of selection 230 may determine which of P₁ and P₂ isgreater. In the event that P₁ is greater than P₂, the functional blockof decision 230 may select the first receiver and thus the functionalblock of first decoding metric generation 216 may be selected togenerate the decoding metric for the functional block of decoding 240 todecode. Otherwise, in the event that P₁ is not greater than P₂, thefunctional block of decision 230 may select the second receiver and thusthe functional block of second decoding metric generation 226 may beselected to generate the decoding metric for the functional block ofdecoding 240 to decode.

Similarly, any variation of the probabilities or similar metric may alsobe used to select the one of two branches. As with the first combiningtechnique, the inequality in the decision step needs to be swapped whenthe distance or noise estimate is used as the weighting factor.

It is noteworthy that although the example illustrated in FIG. 2 showsthe functional blocks of two component receivers, the second combiningtechnique is applicable to implementations in which there are more thantwo component receivers. Therefore, the scope of implementations basedon the second combining technique in accordance with the presentdisclosure is not limited to two component receivers.

A third combining technique according to the present disclosure mayinvolve applying the combining before calculating the decoding metric.An example of the third combining technique is log-likelihood ratio(LLR). Assuming equi-probable message bits in the transmitter, LLR maybe defined by Equation (5) below.

The combining can be applied before calculating the decoding metric,e.g., LLR. Assuming equi-probable message bits in the transmitter, LLRis defined as

$\begin{matrix}{{LLR} = {\log \frac{p\left( {{yb} = 0} \right)}{p\left( {{yb} = 1} \right)}}} & (5)\end{matrix}$

By utilizing the weighting factors directly in Equation (5), LLR may bemodified and expressed by Equation (6) below.

$\begin{matrix}{{LLR} = {\log \frac{{{p_{1}\left( {{yb} = 0} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 1}} + {{p_{2}\left( {{yb} = 0} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 2}}}{{{p_{1}\left( {{yb} = 1} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 1}} + {{p_{2}\left( {{yb} = 1} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 2}}}}} & (6)\end{matrix}$

In Equation (6), each of p₁ and p₂ denotes the probability assuming thefirst and second receive processing, respectively. Moreover, each ofw_(rec1) and w_(rec2) denotes the normalized weighting factor for therespective component receiver. They are normalized so that the sum isone. As with the second combining technique, the third combiningtechnique also provides the advantage of calculating the decoding metriconly once.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example receiver architecture 300 in accordancewith the third combining technique. Receiver architecture 300 mayinclude a number of functional blocks such as, for example, firstreceive processing 312, first weight calculation 314, second receiveprocessing 322, second weight calculation 324, probability combining anddecoding metric calculation 330 and decoding 340. The functional blocksof first receive processing 312 and first weight calculation 314 may befunctional blocks of a first receiver, e.g., a MMSE-IRC receiver, andconfigured to receive an incoming signal from antenna 305 and generate aprobability P₁. That is, the functional block of first receiveprocessing 312 may perform receive processing as a MMSE-IRC receiveprocessing module. The functional blocks of second receive processing322 and second weight calculation 324 may be functional blocks of asecond receiver, e.g., a NAICS receiver, and configured to receive theincoming signal from antenna 305 and generate a probability P₂. That is,the functional block of second receive processing 322 may performreceive processing as a NAICS receive processing module. The functionalblock of probability combining and decoding metric calculation 330 mayperform probability combining and decoding metric calculation using LLRas expressed in Equation (6) to generate the decoding metric for thefunctional block of decoding 340 to decode.

It is noteworthy that although the example illustrated in FIG. 3 showsthe functional blocks of two component receivers, the third combiningtechnique is applicable to implementations in which there are more thantwo component receivers. Therefore, the scope of implementations basedon the third combining technique in accordance with the presentdisclosure is not limited to two component receivers.

A fourth combining technique according to the present disclosure may,instead of calculating the probability for each receiver, utilize thedecoding result (e.g., whether a result of the decoding is a success orfailure) to control the weighting factor. Accordingly, the fourthcombining technique may be much simpler than the first combiningtechnique in actual implementation.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example receiver architecture 400 in accordancewith the third combining technique. Receiver architecture 400 mayinclude a number of functional blocks such as, for example, firstreceive processing 412, first decoding metric generation 414, secondreceive processing 422, second decoding metric generation 424, combining430, decoding 440 and weighting factor adjustment 450. The functionalblocks of first receive processing 412 and first decoding metricgeneration 414 may be functional blocks of a first receiver, e.g., aMMSE-IRC receiver, and configured to receive an incoming signal fromantenna 405 and generate a probability P₁. That is, the functional blockof first receive processing 412 may perform receive processing as aMMSE-IRC receive processing module. The functional blocks of secondreceive processing 422 and second weight calculation 424 may befunctional blocks of a second receiver, e.g., a NAICS receiver, andconfigured to receive the incoming signal from antenna 405 and generatea probability P₂. That is, the functional block of second receiveprocessing 422 may perform receive processing as a NAICS receiveprocessing module. The functional block of combining 430 may receive thedecoding metrics from first and second receivers and combine thedecoding metrics with a weighting factor α as follows:(1−α)*L_(i)+α*R_(i). The functional block of decoding 440 may decode theoutput of the functional block of combining 430. The functional block ofweighting factor adjustment 450 may, based on the output of thefunctional block of decoding 440, adjust the weighting factor α byutilizing a decoding result (e.g., output) of the functional block ofdecoding 440.

For illustrative purpose without limiting the scope of the presentdisclosure, an example algorithm for adjusting the value of weightingfactor α, which may be applied by the functional block of weightingfactor adjustment 450, is provided below.

1) Start from α=0.5, and set the sign of moving direction to ‘+1’;

2) If decoding fails, toggle the sign of direction (i.e., +1→−1, −1→+1);

3) Change α, i.e., α=α+sign*Δ;

4) If α>1, reset α to 1, and if α<0, reset α to 0; and

5) Wait for the next packet, and proceed to step 2.

In FIG. 4, although the adjustment of a occurs outside of the functionalblock of decoding 440 (e.g., a turbo decoder), the weighting factor αmay alternatively be controlled inside the functional block of decoding440 after each turbo decoding iteration. In this case, in addition tothe decoding success/failure information, the quality of the decodingresults may also be used. The sum of magnitude of LLR is a good exampleof the metric that represents the quality of the decoding results. Forinstance, the higher the magnitudes of LLR are, the more reliable thecurrent decoding results are. This relationship is used to fine-tune theweighting factor α. Any similar metrics may also be used.

The new weighting factor α is used for the next decoding trial with thenext packet transmission. Note that the moving direction of a does notchange until the decoding fails. This is required because a UE may ormay not know which of first receiver and second receiver is the betterchoice. The choice could also change depending on the variousinterference scenarios. When the decoding fails, the control algorithmmay determine that the current direction is not a good choice. Themoving direction may change, or toggle, when the decoding fails.Therefore, the proposed algorithm may find the good direction in alldifferent cases.

The step size in adjustment of the weighting factor α, Δ, may beconfigured to exhibit desirable tracking results. FIG. 5 is a diagram ofexample expected behaviors of weighting factor with various step sizesin accordance with the present disclosure. Part (A) of FIG. 5 showsexample behavior of the weighting factor with smaller step size. Part(B) of FIG. 5 shows example behavior of the weighting factor with largerstep size.

It is noteworthy that although the example illustrated in FIG. 4 showsthe functional blocks of two component receivers, the fourth combiningtechnique is applicable to implementations in which there are more thantwo component receivers. Therefore, the scope of implementations basedon the fourth combining technique in accordance with the presentdisclosure is not limited to two component receivers.

Example Implementations

FIG. 6 illustrates an example apparatus 600 in accordance with thepresent disclosure. In some implementations, apparatus 600 may be anelectronic apparatus. For instance, apparatus 600 may be a computingapparatus, a communication apparatus, a portable apparatus or a wearableapparatus. In some implementations, apparatus 600 may be a smartphone, atablet computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a desktopcomputer, a wearable computing apparatus, a wearable communicationapparatus or the like. In some implementations, apparatus 600 may be asingle integrated-circuit (IC) chip, a chip set or multiple discrete andseparate IC chips. Regardless of the form in which apparatus 600 isimplemented, apparatus 600 may be configured to implement receiverarchitecture 100, receiver architecture 200, receiver architecture 300and receiver architecture 400 described above.

Apparatus 600 may include various components including those shown inFIG. 6. To avoid obscuring the figure and to focus on components andfeatures pertinent to the present disclosure, components of apparatus600 relevant to implementations of the present disclosure are shown inFIG. 6 while other components of apparatus 600 are not shown. Referringto FIG. 6, apparatus 600 may include an antenna 610, multiple receiveprocessing modules 620(1)-620(Q) with Q being a positive integer greaterthan or equal to 2, a determination mechanism 630, and a decoder 640.Each of multiple receive processing modules 620(1)-620(Q), determinationmechanism 630 and decoder 640 may be implemented in the form ofhardware, software, firmware, middleware, or any combination thereof. Insome implementations, one or more of multiple receive processing modules620(1)-620(Q), determination mechanism 630 and decoder 640 may beimplemented in the form of hardware including, for example, one or moretransistors, one or more diodes, one or more capacitors, one or moreresistors, one or more inductors and/or one or more memristors.

Antenna 610 may be configured to receive an incoming signal. Themultiple receive processing modules 620(1)-620(Q) may include at least afirst receive processing module and a second receive processing module.Each of the multiple receive processing modules 620(1)-620(Q) may becoupled to antenna 610 and configured to receive the incoming signalfrom antenna 610 and process the incoming signal to produce a respectiveprocessing result. Determination mechanism 630 may be configured toreceive the processing results from the multiple receive processingmodules 620(1)-620(Q) and generate a determination output. Thedetermination output may include either of: (1) one or more decodingmetrics based on a respective processing result from one of the multiplereceive processing modules 620(1)-620(Q), or (2) a weighted combinationof more than one respective processing result from more than one receiveprocessing module of the multiple receive processing modules620(1)-620(Q). Decoder 640 may be configured to receive thedetermination output from determination mechanism 630 and decode thedetermination output to provide a decoded signal.

In some implementations, the first receive processing module may includea MMSE-IRC receive processing module, and the second receive processingmodule may include a NAICS receive processing module.

In some implementations in which receiver architecture 100 is employed,determination mechanism 630 may include a plurality of weightcalculation modules each of which corresponding to a respective one ofthe multiple receive processing modules 620(1)-620(Q). Each weightcalculation module may be configured to receive the respectiveprocessing result from the respective receive processing module andgenerate a respective weighting factor. The plurality of weightcalculation modules may include at least a first weight calculationmodule and a second weight calculation module corresponding to the firstreceive processing module and the second receive processing module,respectively. Additionally, determination mechanism 630 may include aplurality of decoding metric generation modules each of whichcorresponding to a respective one of the multiple receive processingmodules 620(1)-620(Q). Each decoding metric generation module may beconfigured to receive the respective processing result from therespective receive processing module and generate respective one or moredecoding metrics. The plurality of decoding metric generation modulesmay include at least a first decoding metric generation module and asecond decoding metric generation module corresponding to the firstreceive processing module and the second receive processing module,respectively. Moreover, determination mechanism 630 may include acombining module configured to receive the weighting factors anddecoding metrics from the plurality of weight calculation modules andthe plurality of decoding metric generation modules, respectively, togenerate the determination output. In some implementations, the firstweight calculation module may be configured to generate a firstprobability P₁ as a first weighting factor, the second weightcalculation module may be configured to generate a second probability P₂as a second weighting factor, the first decoding metric generationmodule may be configured to generate one or more first decoding metricsL_(i), the second decoding metric generation module may be configured togenerate one or more second decoding metrics R_(i), with 0≤i≤n−1 and nbeing a number of symbols in the incoming signal, and the determinationoutput may be expressed by an equation as follows:(P₁/(P₁+P₂))*L_(i)+(P₂/(P₁+P₂))*R_(i).

In some implementations in which receiver architecture 200 is employed,determination mechanism 630 may include a plurality of weightcalculation modules each of which corresponding to a respective one ofthe multiple receive processing modules 620(1)-620(Q). Each weightcalculation module may be configured to receive the respectiveprocessing result from the respective receive processing module andgenerate a respective weighting factor. The plurality of weightcalculation modules may include at least a first weight calculationmodule and a second weight calculation module corresponding to the firstreceive processing module and the second receive processing module,respectively. Additionally, determination mechanism 630 may include aplurality of decoding metric generation modules each of whichcorresponding to a respective one of the multiple receive processingmodules 620(1)-620(Q). Each decoding metric generation module may beconfigured to receive the respective processing result from therespective receive processing module and generate respective one or moredecoding metrics. The plurality of decoding metric generation modulesmay include at least a first decoding metric generation module and asecond decoding metric generation module corresponding to the firstreceive processing module and the second receive processing module,respectively. Moreover, determination mechanism 630 may include adecision module configured to receive the respective weighting factorsfrom the plurality of weight calculation modules and select one of theplurality of decoding metric generation modules to provide therespective one or more decoding metrics as the determination output tothe decoder for decoding. In some implementations, the first weightcalculation module may be configured to generate a first probability P₁as a first weighting factor, the second weight calculation module may beconfigured to generate a second probability P₂ as a second weightingfactor, the decision module may select the first decoding metricgeneration module to provide one or more first decoding metrics to thedecoder in an event that the decision module determines that P₁ isgreater than P₂, and the decision module may select the second decodingmetric generation module to provide one or more second decoding metricsto the decoder in an event that the decision module determines that P₁is not greater than P₂.

In some implementations in which receiver architecture 300 is employed,determination mechanism 630 may include a plurality of weightcalculation modules each of which corresponding to a respective one ofthe multiple receive processing modules 620(1)-620(Q). Each weightcalculation module may be configured to receive the respectiveprocessing result from the respective receive processing module andgenerate a respective weighting factor. The plurality of weightcalculation modules may include at least a first weight calculationmodule and a second weight calculation module corresponding to the firstreceive processing module and the second receive processing module,respectively. Additionally, determination mechanism 630 may include aprobability combining and decoding metric calculation module configuredto receive the respective processing results from the multiple receiveprocessing modules 620(1)-620(Q) and receive the respective weightingfactors from the plurality of weight calculation modules. Theprobability combining and decoding metric calculation module may be alsoconfigured to perform log-likelihood ratio (LLR) combining beforecalculating one or more decoding metrics to generate the determinationoutput. In some implementations, the first weight calculation module maybe configured to generate a first probability P₁ as a first weightingfactor, the second weight calculation module may be configured togenerate a second probability P₂ as a second weighting factor, and thedetermination output may be expressed by an equation as follows:

${{LLR} = {\log \frac{{{p_{1}\left( {{yb} = 0} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 1}} + {{p_{2}\left( {{yb} = 0} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 2}}}{{{p_{1}\left( {{yb} = 1} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 1}} + {{p_{2}\left( {{yb} = 1} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 2}}}}},$

with b denoting transmitted bits, w_(rec1) denoting a first normalizedweighting factor corresponding to the first receive processing module,and w_(rec2) denoting a second normalized weighting factor correspondingto the second receive processing module.

In some implementations in which receiver architecture 400 is employed,determination mechanism 630 may include a plurality of decoding metricgeneration modules each of which corresponding to a respective one ofthe multiple receive processing modules 620(1)-620(Q). Each decodingmetric generation module may be configured to receive the respectiveprocessing result from the respective receive processing module andgenerate respective one or more decoding metrics. The plurality ofdecoding metric generation modules may include at least a first decodingmetric generation module and a second decoding metric generation modulecorresponding to the first receive processing module and the secondreceive processing module, respectively. Additionally, determinationmechanism 630 may include a combining module configured to receive thedecoding metrics from the plurality of decoding metric generationmodules to generate the determination output using a weighting factor.Moreover, determination mechanism 630 may include a weighting factoradjustment module configured to receive the decoded signal and adjustthe weighting factor based on the decoded signal. In someimplementations, the first decoding metric generation module may beconfigured to generate one or more first decoding metrics L_(i), thesecond decoding metric generation module may be configured to generateone or more second decoding metrics R_(i), with 0≤i≤n−1 and n being anumber of symbols in the incoming signal, and the determination outputmay be expressed by an equation as follows: (1−α)*L_(i)+α*R_(i), with αdenoting the weighting factor that is adjusted utilizing a decodingresult of the decoder.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example process 700 in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure. Process 700 may include one ormore operations, actions, or functions as represented by one or more ofblocks 710, 720 and 730. Although illustrated as discrete blocks,various blocks of process 700 may be divided into additional blocks,combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desiredimplementation. Process 700 may be implemented by receiver architecture100, receiver architecture 200, receiver architecture 300, receiverarchitecture 400 and apparatus 600, as well as any variations thereof.Example process 700 may begin at 710.

At 710, process 700 may involve a plurality of receive processingmodules receiving an incoming signal from an antenna to provide aplurality of processing results. The plurality of receive processingmodules may include at least a first receive processing module and asecond receive processing module. Process 700 may proceed from 710 to720.

At 720, process 700 may involve a determination mechanism generating adetermination output based on the plurality of processing results. Thedetermination output may include either of: (1) one or more decodingmetrics based on a respective processing result from one of theplurality of receive processing modules, or (2) a weighted combinationof more than one respective processing result from more than one receiveprocessing module of the plurality of receive processing modules.Process 700 may proceed from 720 to 730.

At 730, process 700 may involve a decoder decoding the determinationoutput to provide a decoded signal.

In some implementations, the first receive processing module may includea MMSE-IRC receive processing module, and the second receive processingmodule may include a NAICS receive processing module.

In some implementations and with reference to receiver architecture 100,in generating the determination output, process 700 may involve aplurality of weight calculation modules generating weighting factors.Each of the plurality of weight calculation modules may correspond to arespective one of the plurality of receive processing modules. Each ofthe weighting factors may be generated based on a respective processingresult from a respective one of the plurality of receive processingmodules. The plurality of weight calculation modules may include atleast a first weight calculation module and a second weight calculationmodule corresponding to the first receive processing module and thesecond receive processing module, respectively. Additionally, process700 may involve a plurality of decoding metric generation modulesgenerating decoding metrics. Each of the plurality of decoding metricgeneration modules may correspond to a respective one of the pluralityof receive processing modules. Each of the decoding metrics may begenerated based on a respective processing result from a respective oneof the plurality of receive processing modules. The plurality ofdecoding metric generation modules may include at least a first decodingmetric generation module and a second decoding metric generation modulecorresponding to the first receive processing module and the secondreceive processing module, respectively. Moreover, process 700 mayinvolve a combining module, which is configured to receive the weightingfactors and decoding metrics, generating the determination output. Insome implementations, the first weight calculation module may beconfigured to generate a first probability P₁ as a first weightingfactor, the second weight calculation module may be configured togenerate a second probability P₂ as a second weighting factor, the firstdecoding metric generation module may be configured to generate one ormore first decoding metrics L_(i), the second decoding metric generationmodule may be configured to generate one or more second decoding metricsR_(i), with 0≤i≤n−1 and n being a number of symbols in the incomingsignal, and the determination output may be expressed by an equation asfollows: (P₁/(P₁+P₂))*L_(i)+(P₂/(P₁+P₂))*R_(i).

Alternatively and with reference to receiver architecture 200, ingenerating the determination output, process 700 may involve a pluralityof weight calculation modules generating weighting factors. Each of theplurality of weight calculation modules may correspond to a respectiveone of the plurality of receive processing modules. Each of theweighting factors may be generated based on a respective processingresult from a respective one of the plurality of receive processingmodules. The plurality of weight calculation modules may include atleast a first weight calculation module and a second weight calculationmodule corresponding to the first receive processing module and thesecond receive processing module, respectively. Additionally, process700 may involve a plurality of decoding metric generation modulesgenerating decoding metrics. Each of the plurality of decoding metricgeneration modules may correspond to a respective one of the pluralityof receive processing modules. Each of the decoding metrics may begenerated based on a respective processing result from a respective oneof the plurality of receive processing modules. The plurality ofdecoding metric generation modules may include at least a first decodingmetric generation module and a second decoding metric generation modulecorresponding to the first receive processing module and the secondreceive processing module, respectively. Moreover, process 700 mayinvolve a decision module, configured to receive the respectiveweighting factors from the plurality of weight calculation modules,selecting one of the plurality of decoding metric generation modules toprovide respective one or more decoding metrics as the determinationoutput to the decoder for decoding. In some implementations, the firstweight calculation module may be configured to generate a firstprobability P₁ as a first weighting factor, the second weightcalculation module may be configured to generate a second probability P₂as a second weighting factor, the decision module may select the firstdecoding metric generation module to provide one or more first decodingmetrics to the decoder in an event that the decision module determinesthat P₁ is greater than P₂, and the decision module may select thesecond decoding metric generation module to provide one or more seconddecoding metrics to the decoder in an event that the decision moduledetermines that P₁ is not greater than P₂.

Alternatively and with reference to receiver architecture 300, ingenerating the determination output, process 700 may involve a pluralityof weight calculation modules generating weighting factors. Each of theplurality of weight calculation modules may correspond to a respectiveone of the plurality of receive processing modules. Each of theweighting factors may be generated based on a respective processingresult from a respective one of the plurality of receive processingmodules. The plurality of weight calculation modules may include atleast a first weight calculation module and a second weight calculationmodule corresponding to the first receive processing module and thesecond receive processing module, respectively. Additionally, process700 may involve a probability combining and decoding metric calculationmodule, configured to receive the processing results from the pluralityof receive processing modules and receive the weighting factors from theplurality of weight calculation modules, generating the determinationoutput by performing LLR combining before calculating one or moredecoding metrics. In some implementations, the first weight calculationmodule may be configured to generate a first probability P₁ as a firstweighting factor, the second weight calculation module may be configuredto generate a second probability P₂ as a second weighting factor, andthe determination output may be expressed by an equation as follows:

${{LLR} = {\log \frac{{{p_{1}\left( {{yb} = 0} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 1}} + {{p_{2}\left( {{yb} = 0} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 2}}}{{{p_{1}\left( {{yb} = 1} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 1}} + {{p_{2}\left( {{yb} = 1} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 2}}}}},$

with b denoting transmitted bits, w_(rec1) denoting a first normalizedweighting factor corresponding to the first receive processing module,and w_(rec2) denoting a second normalized weighting factor correspondingto the second receive processing module.

Alternatively and with reference to receiver architecture 400, ingenerating the determination output, process 700 may involve a pluralityof decoding metric generation modules generating decoding metrics. Eachof the plurality of decoding metric generation modules may correspond toa respective one of the plurality of receive processing modules. Each ofthe decoding metrics may be generated based on a respective processingresult from a respective one of the plurality of receive processingmodules. The plurality of decoding metric generation modules may includeat least a first decoding metric generation module and a second decodingmetric generation module corresponding to the first receive processingmodule and the second receive processing module, respectively.Additionally, process 700 may involve a combining module, configured toreceive the decoding metrics from the plurality of decoding metricgeneration modules, generating the determination output using aweighting factor. Moreover, process 700 may involve a weighting factoradjustment module, configured to receive the decoded signal, adjustingthe weighting factor based on the decoded signal. In someimplementations, the first decoding metric generation module may beconfigured to generate one or more first decoding metrics L_(i), thesecond decoding metric generation module may be configured to generateone or more second decoding metrics R_(i), with 0≤i≤n−1 and n being anumber of symbols in the incoming signal, and the determination outputmay be expressed by an equation as follows: (1−α)*L_(i)+α*R_(i), with αdenoting the weighting factor that is adjusted utilizing a decodingresult of the decoder.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

The herein-described subject matter sometimes illustrates differentcomponents contained within, or connected with, different othercomponents. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures aremerely examples, and that in fact many other architectures can beimplemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense,any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality iseffectively “associated” such that the desired functionality isachieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve aparticular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each othersuch that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components soassociated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or“operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality,and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewedas being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desiredfunctionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but arenot limited to physically mateable and/or physically interactingcomponents and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interactingcomponents and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactablecomponents.

Further, with respect to the use of substantially any plural and/orsingular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate fromthe plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as isappropriate to the context and/or application. The varioussingular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sakeof clarity.

Moreover, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that, ingeneral, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims, e.g.,bodies of the appended claims, are generally intended as “open” terms,e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but notlimited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having atleast,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but isnot limited to,” etc. It will be further understood by those within theart that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation isintended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and inthe absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example,as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may containusage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” tointroduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should notbe construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by theindefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containingsuch introduced claim recitation to implementations containing only onesuch recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductoryphrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as“a” or “an,” e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “atleast one” or “one or more;” the same holds true for the use of definitearticles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if aspecific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited,those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should beinterpreted to mean at least the recited number, e.g., the barerecitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, means at leasttwo recitations, or two or more recitations. Furthermore, in thoseinstances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C,etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the senseone having skill in the art would understand the convention, e.g., “asystem having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not belimited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and Ctogether, etc. In those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a constructionis intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understandthe convention, e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” wouldinclude but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, Calone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together, etc. It will be further understood by those withinthe art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting twoor more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, ordrawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities ofincluding one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. Forexample, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include thepossibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various implementationsof the present disclosure have been described herein for purposes ofillustration, and that various modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.Accordingly, the various implementations disclosed herein are notintended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicatedby the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: an antenna configuredto receive an incoming signal; a plurality of receive processingcircuits comprising at least a first receive processing circuit and asecond receive processing circuit, each of the plurality of receiveprocessing circuits coupled to the antenna and configured to receive theincoming signal from the antenna and process the incoming signal toproduce a respective processing result; a determination circuitconfigured to receive the processing results from the plurality ofreceive processing circuits and generate a determination output, thedetermination output comprising either one or more decoding metricsbased on a respective processing result from one of the plurality ofreceive processing circuits or a weighted combination of more than onerespective processing result from more than one receive processingcircuit of the plurality of receive processing circuits; and a decoderconfigured to receive the determination output from the determinationcircuit and decode the determination output to provide a decoded signal,wherein the determination circuit comprises: a plurality of weightcalculation circuits each of which corresponding to a respective one ofthe plurality of receive processing circuits, each weight calculationcircuit configured to receive the respective processing result from therespective receive processing circuit and generate a respectiveweighting factor, the plurality of weight calculation circuitscomprising at least a first weight calculation circuit and a secondweight calculation circuit corresponding to the first receive processingcircuit and the second receive processing circuit, respectively; and aprobability combining and decoding metric calculation circuit configuredto receive the respective processing results from the plurality ofreceive processing circuits and receive the respective weighting factorsfrom the plurality of weight calculation circuits, the probabilitycombining and decoding metric calculation circuit also configured toperform log-likelihood ratio (LLR) combining before calculating one ormore decoding metrics to generate the determination output.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the first receive processing circuitcomprises a Minimum Mean Square Error and Interference RejectionCombiner (MMSE-IRC) receive processing circuit, and wherein the secondreceive processing circuit comprises a Network Assisted InterferenceCancellation and Suppression (NAICS) receive processing circuit.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein: the first weight calculation circuit isconfigured to generate a first probability P₁ as a first weightingfactor; the second weight calculation circuit is configured to generatea second probability P₂ as a second weighting factor; and thedetermination output is expressed by an equation as follows:${{LLR} = {\log \frac{{{p_{1}\left( {{yb} = 0} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 1}} + {{p_{2}\left( {{yb} = 0} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 2}}}{{{p_{1}\left( {{yb} = 1} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 1}} + {{p_{2}\left( {{yb} = 1} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 2}}}}},$with b denoting transmitted bits, w_(rec1) denoting a first normalizedweighting factor corresponding to the first receive processing circuit,and w_(rec2) denoting a second normalized weighting factor correspondingto the second receive processing circuit.
 4. A method, comprising:receiving, by a plurality of receive processing modules comprising atleast a first receive processing module and a second receive processingmodule, an incoming signal from an antenna to provide a plurality ofprocessing results; generating, by a determination mechanism, adetermination output based on the plurality of processing results, thedetermination output comprising either one or more decoding metricsbased on a respective processing result from one of the plurality ofreceive processing modules or a weighted combination of more than onerespective processing result from more than one receive processingmodule of the plurality of receive processing modules; and decoding, bya decoder, the determination output to provide a decoded signal, whereinthe generating of the determination output comprises: generating, by aplurality of weight calculation modules each of which corresponding to arespective one of the plurality of receive processing modules, weightingfactors each of which generated based on a respective processing resultfrom a respective one of the plurality of receive processing modules,the plurality of weight calculation modules comprising at least a firstweight calculation module and a second weight calculation modulecorresponding to the first receive processing module and the secondreceive processing module, respectively; and generating, by aprobability combining and decoding metric calculation module configuredto receive the processing results from the plurality of receiveprocessing modules and receive the weighting factors from the pluralityof weight calculation modules, the determination output by performinglog-likelihood ratio (LLR) combining before calculating one or moredecoding metrics.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first receiveprocessing module comprises a Minimum Mean Square Error and InterferenceRejection Combiner (MMSE-IRC) receive processing module, and wherein thesecond receive processing module comprises a Network AssistedInterference Cancellation and Suppression (NAICS) receive processingmodule.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein: the first weight calculationmodule is configured to generate a first probability P₁ as a firstweighting factor; the second weight calculation module is configured togenerate a second probability P₂ as a second weighting factor; and thedetermination output is expressed by an equation as follows:${{LLR} = {\log \frac{{{p_{1}\left( {{yb} = 0} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 1}} + {{p_{2}\left( {{yb} = 0} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 2}}}{{{p_{1}\left( {{yb} = 1} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 1}} + {{p_{2}\left( {{yb} = 1} \right)}w_{{rec}\; 2}}}}},$with b denoting transmitted bits, w_(rec1) denoting a first normalizedweighting factor corresponding to the first receive processing module,and w_(rec2) denoting a second normalized weighting factor correspondingto the second receive processing module.